PowerCLI: Copy-VMGuestFile

In VMware PowerCLI Update 1, a new cmdlet has been added to copy files to/from guest OS’s using the VMTools. Under normal circumstances this wouldn’t be all that useful, but if a machine is not accessible on the network – either a DMZ or a test-lab environment for example – there is now a method to easily copy files to and from the guest machines.

For example:

copy-vmguestfile -source c:\windows\system32\imageres.dll -destination c:\temp\ -vm vm01 -guesttolocal -hostuser root -hostpassword * -guestuser administrator -guestpassword *

Note that you need to specify the passwords, or not specify credentials at all for a prompt, or you can use a pscredential object.

Unfortunately wildcards are currently unsupported, but it would be easy to loop through local files within PowerShell to upload based on wildcards.

I ran this with the measure-command cmdlet to see how fast it was – about 0.5MB/sec– not too quick, but a lot better than nothing.

measure-command -expression {copy-vmguestfile -source c:\windows\system32\imageres.dll -destination c:\temp\ -vm vm01 -guesttolocal -hostuser root -hostpassword * -guestuser administrator -guestpassword *}

Seconds : 26
Milliseconds : 539
Ticks : 265390633
TotalDays : 0.000307165084490741
TotalHours : 0.00737196202777778
TotalMinutes : 0.442317721666667
TotalSeconds : 26.5390633
TotalMilliseconds : 26539.0633

Wayne's World of IT (WWoIT), Copyright 2010 Wayne Martin. 

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vCenter file copy with virtual floppy disk

n an ESXi or vCenter environment, without network connectivity to a virtual machine from your administrative workstation it's quite hard to bi-directionally transfer files.

This post discusses a simple method I use for small quick file transfer from a secure virtual machine to my administrative workstation, using virtual floppy drives managed from the command-line.

This process uses vfd.exe, but presumably any virtual floppy software on your workstation could be used. The virtual machine also needs to have a floppy drive...

To bi-directionally transfer files from a non-network connected VM to my administrative workstation:

1. Create a virtual floppy disk on my workstation


2. Mount that floppy disk file as a virtual floppy drive on my workstation as A:


3. Through VI client, connect the VM to the A: drive


4. On the VM, copy files to/from A: drive and disconnect from the floppy


5. On my workstation, copy files to/from the virtual A:


6. Close the virtual floppy

Using vfd.exe:

1. vfd install


2. vfd open c:\temp\new.flp


3. Use VI Client to connect to A:


4. Copy files, then disconnect the VM virtual device


5. copy a:\*.*


6. vfd close

The obvious limitation of this is that the size is limited to 1.44MB. I tried with a 2.44MB floppy and the virtual machine didn't recognise this disk.

This doesn’t work with a virtual CD-ROM, as it’s mounted as read-only in the VM, so bi-directional copies aren’t available. You can still use a similar process for creating an ISO to copy files into a VM though. For this I use oscdimg.exe (Microsoft utility) to create my ISO from the command-line.

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VMware PowerCLI commands

The VMware PowerCLI PowerShell interface provided for managing vSphere systems is a fantastic tool that should be useful for all VMware admins.

I've gathered these commands while implementing and managing ESXi 4.0 clusters, use with caution on any production system.

This is an extension of a previous post:
VMware vSphere PowerCLI commands

Join a cluster by moving an ESX host from one location to the cluster
Move-Inventory -Item (Get-VMHost -Name esxHost) -Destination (Get-Cluster -Name clusterName)

Get the VMware.Vim.ClusterComputeResource MO from the PowerCLI cluster object
$clusterview = get-view $cluster.Id

Reconfigure a host for VMware HA (high availability)
$vmhost = get-vmhost -name esxHost; $hostMO = Get-View -ID $vmhost.ID; $hostMO.ReconfigureHostForDAS()

Find migration events for the last day
$events = Get-VIEvent -Start (Get-Date).AddDays(-1) | where {$_.fullFormattedMessage -match "Migrating.*"}

Find events other than CPU Alarms or user login/logout for the last day
$events = Get-VIEvent -Start (Get-Date).AddDays(-1) | where {$_.fullFormattedMessage -notmatch "Alarm.*CPU.*|User.*logged.*"}

Find events for degraded MPIO path redundancy 
$events = Get-VIEvent -Start (Get-Date).AddDays(-1) | where {$_.fullFormattedMessage -match "Path redundancy to storage.*degraded"}

Report the date, host and description for MPIO path redundancy errors
foreach ($event in $events) {write-output ($event.createdTime.ToString() + "," + $event.host.get_name() + "," + $event.fullFormattedMessage)}

List a table of VI events with only the date and message
$events | format-table -wrap -autosize -property createdTime,fullFormattedMessage

List the physical networks adapters and the current link speed (ESX 4.0)
$hostSystem = get-view -ViewType HostSystem; $hostConfigManager = $hostSystem.get_ConfigManager(); $hostNetworkSystem = $hostConfigManager.get_NetworkSystem(); $netSystem = Get-View $hostNetworkSystem; $netSystem.NetworkConfig.pnic; foreach ($pnic in  $netSystem.NetworkConfig.pnic) {Write-Output ($pnic.Device + "," + $pnic.spec.linkspeed.SpeedMB)}

List the vSwitches and the uplinks currently attached
$hostSystem = get-view -ViewType HostSystem; $hostConfigManager = $hostSystem.get_ConfigManager(); $hostNetworkSystem = $hostConfigManager.get_NetworkSystem(); $netSystem = Get-View $hostNetworkSystem; foreach ($vswitch in  $netSystem.NetworkConfig.vSwitch) {Write-Output ($vSwitch.Name + "," + $vswitch.spec.policy.NicTeaming.NicOrder.ActiveNic)}

Remove snapshots from a group of machines
$VMs = Get-VM -Location (get-folder -name "vmFolder"); foreach ($vm in $vms) {remove-snapshot -snapshot (Get-Snapshot -vm $vm) -confirm:$false}

Take snapshots of a group of machines
$VMs = Get-VM -Location (get-folder -name "vmFolder"); foreach ($vm in $VMs) {New-Snapshot -Name "snapshot 01" -description "Snapshot description" -vm $vm -Quiesce:$false}

Find VM name, description and primary disk datastore
$VMs = get-vm; foreach ($vm in $VMs) {write-output ($vm.Name + ",""" + $vm.Description + """," + $vm.harddisks[0].FileName.Replace(" ", ",")) | out-file -append -filepath c:\temp\VM_Datastores.txt}

Bring a host out of maintenance most
Set-VMHost -VMHost esxHost -State Connected

Generate diagnostic support bundles for all hosts
get-log -vmhost (get-vmhost) -bundle -destinationpath c:\temp\bundles

Find the network adapter type for each VM
$vms = get-vm ; foreach ($vm in $vms) {write-host $vm.Name "-"  $vm.networkadapters[0].type}

Find physical NICs and whether they're set to autonegotiate or hardcoded
foreach ($pnic in $hostNetwork.pnic) {if($pnic.linkSpeed -eq $null) {$ls = "Auto"} else {$ls= $pnic.linkSpeed.speedMB.toString() + ":" + $pnic.linkSpeed.duplex} ;write-output ($pnic.Device + "," + $ls)}

Find host sytem build information
$hostSystems = get-view -ViewType HostSystem; foreach ($hostSystem in $hostSystems) {Write-Output ($hostSystem.Name + "," + $hostSystem.config.product.Fullname)}

Find VMs and whether the VMtools is configured to synchronising time 
$vmSet = Get-VM ; foreach ($vm in $vmSet) { $view = get-view $vm.ID ;$config = $view.config; $tools = $config.tools; Write-Output ($vm.Name + "," + $tools.SyncTimeWithHost) }

Revert to a snapshot
set-vm -vm vmName -snapshot (get-snapshot -vm vmName) -confirm:$false

Remove a virtual machine from inventory and delete from disk
remove-vm -DeleteFromDisk:$true -RunAsync:$true -vm vmName

Shutdown one or more Virtual Machine guests
shutdown-vmguest -vm $vms -confirm:$false

Start one or more Virtual Machine guests
start-vm -vm $vms -confirm:$false

Forcefully power off one or more Virtual Machines
stop-vm $vms -confirm:$false

Get a virtual switch from the specified ESX host
get-virtualswitch -name vSwitch1 -vmhost esxHost

Create a new port group on the specified vSwitch
New-VirtualPortGroup -Name "pgName" -VirtualSwitch $vs

Find ESX memory balloon averages for the last five days
get-stat -entity $hosts -start (Get-Date).AddDays(-5) -finish (Get-Date) -stat mem.vmmemctl.average

Export a list of VMs
$vms | select-object -prop Name | out-file -filepath c:\temp\vms.txt

Export a list of VM guest hostnames 
$vms = get-vm; foreach ($vm in $vms) { write-output $vm.guest.get_HostName()}

Wayne's World of IT (WWoIT), Copyright 2009 Wayne Martin. 

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Service Control Manager Security for non-admins

Allowing non-administrators rights for service control sounds deceptively simple, but unfortunately it’s not. After Windows Server 2003 SP1, the default rights are very focused on administrator-only access for service control.

This post describes how to view and modify the security descriptor for the Service Control Manager (SCM) and individual services as required.

Show the descriptor for SCM:
sc sdshow SCMANAGER

D:(A;;CC;;;AU)(A;;CCLCRPRC;;;IU)(A;;CCLCRPRC;;;SU)(A;;CCLCRPWPRC;;;SY)(A;;KA;;;BA)S:(AU;FA;KA;;;WD)(AU;OIIOFA;GA;;;WD)

In this case, the output shows that by default, Authenticated Users (AU) only have connect, but not enumerate (LC) for SCM.

If you want to allow a non-administrator to connect to the Service Control Manager and enumerate the services, you can modify the security descriptor by using something like the following command to add enumerate, read control and query lock status for Authenticated Users with SCM:
sc sdset SCMANAGER

D:(A;;CCLCRPRC;;;AU)(A;;CCLCRPRC;;;IU)(A;;CCLCRPRC;;;SU)(A;;CCLCRPWPRC;;;SY)(A;;KA;;;BA)S:(AU;FA;KA;;;WD)(AU;OIIOFA;GA;;;WD)

This allows connecting to the SCM and enumerating services. However, if the DACL on the individual services only allows administrators access to the services, then they still won’t be accessible. You’ll need to run specific 'sc sdset' commands against particular services, or use subinacl to change all services with one command.

Note that the sc.exe version with XP does not support this syntax – use the sc.exe on 2003 server.

For individual services, you could then allow query and interrogate with the following command:

subinacl /service \\server\* /grant=domain\user=QSI

Note that to map the ACE flags to the meaning with regards to service control, I went through the following process:

1. Find the access rights from the flag, eg CC = SDDL_CREATE_CHILD = ADS_RIGHT_DS_CREATE_CHILD (ACE Strings link below)
2. Find the constant matching this value, eg. 0x1 (ADS_RIGHTS_ENUM Enumeration link below)
3. Match this to the SCM access right for the hexadecimal value, eg. 0x1 = SC_MANAGER_CONNECT (Service Security and Access Rights link below)

Map between sdshow output, right, hex value and SC/service meaning:

"CC"  ADS_RIGHT_DS_CREATE_CHILD          = 0x1,    SC_MANAGER_CONNECT, SERVICE_QUERY_CONFIG
"DC"  ADS_RIGHT_DS_DELETE_CHILD          = 0x2,    SC_MANAGER_CREATE_SERVICE, SERVICE_CHANGE_CONFIG
"LC"  ADS_RIGHT_ACTRL_DS_LIST            = 0x4,    SC_MANAGER_ENUMERATE_SERVICE, SERVICE_QUERY_STATUS
"SW"  ADS_RIGHT_DS_SELF                  = 0x8,    SC_MANAGER_LOCK, SERVICE_ENUMERATE_DEPENDENTS
"RP"  ADS_RIGHT_DS_READ_PROP             = 0x10,   SC_MANAGER_QUERY_LOCK_STATUS, SERVICE_START, 
"WP"  ADS_RIGHT_DS_WRITE_PROP            = 0x20,   SC_MANAGER_MODIFY_BOOT_CONFIG, SERVICE_STOP
"DT"  ADS_RIGHT_DS_DELETE_TREE           = 0x40,   SERVICE_PAUSE_CONTINUE
"LO"  ADS_RIGHT_DS_LIST_OBJECT           = 0x80,   SERVICE_INTERROGATE
"CR"  ADS_RIGHT_DS_CONTROL_ACCESS        = 0x100   SERVICE_USER_DEFINED_CONTROL
"RC"  READ_CONTROL                       = 0x20000 READ_CONTROL

Access right Description for services and SCM:

SERVICE_QUERY_CONFIG (0x0001) Required to call the QueryServiceConfig and QueryServiceConfig2 functions to query the service configuration. 
SERVICE_CHANGE_CONFIG (0x0002) Required to call the ChangeServiceConfig or ChangeServiceConfig2 function to change the service configuration. Because this grants the caller the right to change the executable file that the system runs, it should be granted only to administrators.  
SERVICE_QUERY_STATUS (0x0004) Required to call the QueryServiceStatusEx function to ask the service control manager about the status of the service. 
SERVICE_ENUMERATE_DEPENDENTS (0x0008) Required to call the EnumDependentServices function to enumerate all the services dependent on the service. 
SERVICE_START (0x0010) Required to call the StartService function to start the service. 
SERVICE_STOP (0x0020) Required to call the ControlService function to stop the service. 
SERVICE_PAUSE_CONTINUE (0x0040) Required to call the ControlService function to pause or continue the service. 
SERVICE_INTERROGATE (0x0080) Required to call the ControlService function to ask the service to report its status immediately. 
SERVICE_USER_DEFINED_CONTROL(0x0100) Required to call the ControlService function to specify a user-defined control code. 
SERVICE_ALL_ACCESS (0xF01FF) Includes STANDARD_RIGHTS_REQUIRED in addition to all access rights in this table. 
READ_CONTROL Required to call the QueryServiceObjectSecurity function to query the security descriptor of the service object. 

SC_MANAGER_CONNECT (0x0001) Required to connect to the service control manager. 
SC_MANAGER_CREATE_SERVICE (0x0002) Required to call the CreateService function to create a service object and add it to the database. 
SC_MANAGER_ENUMERATE_SERVICE (0x0004) Required to call the EnumServicesStatusEx function to list the services that are in the database. 
SC_MANAGER_LOCK (0x0008) Required to call the LockServiceDatabase function to acquire a lock on the database. 
SC_MANAGER_QUERY_LOCK_STATUS (0x0010) 
SC_MANAGER_MODIFY_BOOT_CONFIG (0x0020) Required to call the NotifyBootConfigStatus function. 
SC_MANAGER_ALL_ACCESS (0xF003F) Includes STANDARD_RIGHTS_REQUIRED, in addition to all access rights in this table. 

Directory service object access rights

"RC"  SDDL_READ_CONTROL  READ_CONTROL 
"RP"  SDDL_READ_PROPERTY  ADS_RIGHT_DS_READ_PROP  
"WP"  SDDL_WRITE_PROPERTY  ADS_RIGHT_DS_WRITE_PROP  
"CC"  SDDL_CREATE_CHILD  ADS_RIGHT_DS_CREATE_CHILD  
"DC"  SDDL_DELETE_CHILD  ADS_RIGHT_DS_DELETE_CHILD  
"LC"  SDDL_LIST_CHILDREN  ADS_RIGHT_ACTRL_DS_LIST  
"SW"  SDDL_SELF_WRITE  ADS_RIGHT_DS_SELF  
"LO"  SDDL_LIST_OBJECT  ADS_RIGHT_DS_LIST_OBJECT  
"DT"  SDDL_DELETE_TREE  ADS_RIGHT_DS_DELETE_TREE  
"CR"  SDDL_CONTROL_ACCESS  ADS_RIGHT_DS_CONTROL_ACCESS  

ADS enum:

typedef enum  {
  ADS_RIGHT_DS_CREATE_CHILD          = 0x1,
  ADS_RIGHT_DS_DELETE_CHILD          = 0x2,
  ADS_RIGHT_ACTRL_DS_LIST            = 0x4,
  ADS_RIGHT_DS_SELF                  = 0x8,
  ADS_RIGHT_DS_READ_PROP             = 0x10,
  ADS_RIGHT_DS_WRITE_PROP            = 0x20,
  ADS_RIGHT_DS_DELETE_TREE           = 0x40,
  ADS_RIGHT_DS_LIST_OBJECT           = 0x80,
  ADS_RIGHT_DS_CONTROL_ACCESS        = 0x100 

} ADS_RIGHTS_ENUM;

READ_CONTROL = 0x20000;

References:

Applying Security Descriptors on the Device Object
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms793368.aspx

Non-administrators cannot remotely access the Service Control Manager after you install Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;907460

Securing a Remote WMI Connection
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa393266(VS.85).aspx

Configuring a Report Server for Remote Administration
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms365170(SQL.90).aspx

Service Security and Access Rights
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms685981(VS.85).aspx

How to grant users rights to manage services in Windows 2000
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/288129

How to troubleshoot WMI-related issues in Windows XP SP2
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/875605

ACE Strings
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa374928(VS.85).aspx

ADS_RIGHTS_ENUM Enumeration
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa772285(VS.85).aspx



Wayne's World of IT (WWoIT), Copyright 2009 Wayne Martin. 

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VMware Command-Line Interface commands

The Windows command-line interface provided for managing ESX/ESXi systems is an invaluable tool for managing ESX infrastructure at the command-line. When using ESXi without a service console the CLI becomes even more useful.

I've gathered these commands while implementing and managing ESXi 4.0 clusters, use with caution on any production system.

ESXi 4.0 RCLI:

List the NTP servers used by the host
vicfg-ntp.pl --server esx01 --list

Add a Software iSCSI NIC named vmk2
esxcli --server=esx01 swiscsi nic add -n vmk2 -d vmhba33

List the Software iSCSI NICs
esxcli --server=esx01 swiscsi nic list -d vmhba33

List the software iSCSI status on a host
vicfg-iscsi.pl --server esx01 --swiscsi --list

Enable software iSCSI on an ESX host
vicfg-iscsi.pl --server esx01 --swiscsi --enable

List the adapters bound to software iSCSI
esxcli --server=esx01 swiscsi nic list -d vmhba33

List the VMKernel NICs
vicfg-vmknic.pl --server esx01 --list

List the software iSCSI adapters
vicfg-iscsi.pl --server esx01 --adapter --list

Set the iSCSI alias for the specified adapter
vicfg-iscsi.pl --server esx01 --iscsiname --alias esx01 vmhba33

Bind a VMK software iSCSI NIC for MPIO PSA
esxcli --server=esx01 swiscsi nic add -n vmk2 -d vmhba33

Rescan a storage adapter bus
vicfg-rescan.pl --server esx01 vmhba33

Add a dynamic iSCSI discovery target
vicfg-iscsi.pl --server esx01 --discovery --add --ip 10.1.1.10:3260 vmhba33

Add CHAP authentication to an iSCSI discovery target
vicfg-iscsi.pl --server esx01 --authentication --level chapRequired --method CHAP --auth_username esxchap --auth_password chapacc3ss80 --ip 10.2.128.33:3260 vmhba33

Find the current ScratchConfig scratch location
vicfg-advcfg.pl --server esx01 -g ScratchConfig.ConfiguredScratchLocation

Set the scratch location for ESXi
vicfg-advcfg.pl --server esx01 -s "/vmfs/volumes/esxds01/Scratch/esx01" ScratchConfig.ConfiguredScratchLocation

Check if CIM OEM providers are enabled (such as Dell OM)
vicfg-advcfg.pl --server esx01 -g UserVars.CIMOEMProvidersEnabled

Enable CIM OEM Providers (such as Dell OM)
vicfg-advcfg.pl --server esx01 -s "1" UserVars.CIMOEMProvidersEnabled

Query the patches/updates/bulletins/VIBs installed on ESXi
vihostupdate.pl --server esx01 -q

Set the SNMP community for the ESXi host
vicfg-snmp.pl --server esx01 -c public

Enable the SNMP agent on an ESXi host
vicfg-snmp.pl --server esx01 -E

List the iSCSI node name
vicfg-iscsi.pl --server esx01 --list --iscsiname --adapter vmhba36

List the preferred nativte multipathing (NMP) path for a device
 esxcli --server esx01 nmp fixed getpreferred -d naa.6090332880cfdc44fda634b1ca2457b8

Check whether round robin path selection is used for a device
esxcli --server esx01 nmp roundrobin getconfig -d naa.6090a02833cfdc7ffd4434b1ca5457b8 

List the disk NAA/UUIDs known to a host
esxcli --server esx01 nmp device list

List the MPIO path to device mapping
esxcfg-mpath.pl --server esx01 -m

List the SCSI devices known to a host
vicfg-scsidevs.pl --server esx01 --list   

List the available datastores on a host
vifs.pl --server esx01 --listds

List the contents of a datastore
 vifs.pl --server esx01 --dir [datastore]

Upload a local file to a datastore through vifs
vifs.pl --server esx01 --put c:\temp\file.txt dir/file.txt?dsName=datastoreName

List virtual switches, port groups, uplinks and MTU
vicfg-vswitch.pl -l --server esx01

Browse the datastores or local host through ssl
https://esx01/folder or https://esx01/host

Find the vmnic configuration, including driver, current speed
vicfg-nics.pl --server esx01 -l 

Set a vNIC to auto-negotiate
vicfg-nics.pl --server esx01 --vihost esx01 -a vmnic0

List the host-based files on an ESXi client
vifs.pl --server esx01 --dir /host  

A few other useful VMware tips:

Recreate the rui.pfx file for VirtualCenter
openssl pkcs12 -export -in rui.crt -inkey rui.key -name rui -passout pass:testpassword -out rui.pfx

Forcefully power off a suspended VM
Delete the vmss file, and then power on the VM (state is lost)

ESXi 4.0, access unsupported ssh console through the dcui
Press Alt+F1, type unsupported, then the root password

Wayne's World of IT (WWoIT), Copyright 2009 Wayne Martin. 

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More useful command-lines

This is the second edition of useful command lines, adding another 132 commands that I've found useful. Note that many of the command-line calls may require Microsoft utilities (such as dsquery, wmic, dnscmd).

Most of the commands are for the windows-based command interpreter, with a few PowerShell and ESX service console commands creeping in. They range from diagnostics, troubleshooting and simply automating recurring tasks.

Each command-line can be copied and pasted at the command prompt, if you use a batch file you'll need to reference variables with double-percent (%%).

See the original post with another 425 commands http://waynes-world-it.blogspot.com/2008/09/useful-command-lines.html

Given an IP and mask, return the subet the IP belongs to
for /f "tokens=1-8 delims=.- " %i in ('echo 192.168.5.200 255.255.255.0') do set /a Octet1="%i & %m" >nul & set /a Octet2="%j & %n" >nul & set /a Octet3="%k & %o" >nul & set /a Octet4="%l & %p" >nul & Echo %i.%j.%k.%l,!Octet1!.!Octet2!.!Octet3!.!Octet4!,%m.%n.%o.%p

Display the contents of the client DNS resolver cache
ipconfig /displaydns

Find the package source path of a program from SMS
wmic /namespace:\\root\sms\site_%sitecode% /node:"server" path SMS_Package Where "Name like '%programname%'" get Name,ShareName,PkgSourcePath

Find the session associated with a process
wmic path win32_process get name,sessionid

List the local winstation windows objects
objdir \Windows\Windowstations\Winsta0

Query the configuration container for Exchange mailbox stores
dsquery * ",CN=Configuration,DC=domainroot" -filter "(&(objectClass=msExchPrivateMDB)(objectCategory=msExchPrivateMDB))"

Query a Virtual Centre/VC 2.5 database for Virtual Machine details
sqlcmd -S server -d database -W -s "," -Q "select ENT.Name as 'Name', Lower(DNS_Name) as 'DNS Name', Guest_OS as 'OS', Mem_Size_MB as 'Mem', Num_VCPU as 'CPU', Num_NIC as 'NIC', IP_Address as 'IP', NET.MAC_Address as 'MAC Address', VM.FILE_Name as 'VMX location' from vpx_vm VM inner join VPX_NIC NET on VM.ID = NET.ENTITY_ID inner join VPX_ENTITY ENT on VM.ID = ENT.ID Order By ENT.Name"

Query a Virtual Centre/VC 2.5 database for Virtual Machine snapshots (GMT+10)
sqlcmd -S server -d database -W -s "," -Q "select ENT.Name as 'Name', Lower(DNS_Name) as 'DNS Name', Guest_OS as 'OS', Mem_Size_MB as 'Mem', IP_Address as 'IP', VM.FILE_Name as 'VMX location', VM.Suspend_Time as 'Suspend Time', VM.Suspend_Interval as 'Suspend Interval', VMS.Snapshot_Name as 'Snapshot Name', VMS.Snapshot_Desc 'Snapshot Description', DateAdd(Hour, 10, VMS.Create_Time) as 'Snapshot Time', VMS.Is_Current_Snapshot 'Current Snapshot' from vpx_vm VM inner join VPX_NIC NET on VM.ID = NET.ENTITY_ID inner join VPX_ENTITY ENT on VM.ID = ENT.ID inner join VPX_SNAPSHOT VMS on VM.ID = VMS.VM_ID"

Test the password for a domain account (assumes no existing IPC connection)
net use \\server\ipc$ /user:%domain%\%testuser% *

View the last-access, modified, created and MFT entry modified timestampes
timestomp "%fullpathtoFile%" -v

Create a scheduled task escaped with a command containing double-quotes (2003)
schtasks /create /SC Daily /TN "Task" /ST 12:00 /TR "cmd /c echo \"Test\"" /RU System

Create a scheduled task running two commands
schtasks /create /SC Daily /TN "Task" /ST 12:00 /TR "cmd /c echo Test1 & cmd /c echo Test2" /RU System

Check a number of computers to see if hibernation is enabled
for /f %i in (%controlfile%.txt) do @if exist \\%~i\c$\hiberfil.sys (echo %~i,Enabled) else (echo %~i,Disabled)

For each path in a control file, list the 8.3 short equivalent
for /f "tokens=*" %i in (test.txt) do echo %~si

Use if exist and disabled path parsing to bypass max_path
for /f "tokens=*" %i in (test.txt) do if exist "\\?\UNC\%~pnxi" echo File exists

Enumerate a cluster through WMI
wmic /node:"%node%" /namespace:\\root\mscluster path MSCluster_Cluster

Given a path exceeding MAX_PATH, return the 8.3 equivalent of the directories
for /f "tokens=*" %i in (longfiles.txt) do for /d %m in ("\\%~pi") do echo %~sm%~nxi

Given a path you know contains deeper than 260, batch to return the 8.3 subdirs
(3 lines) @for /f "tokens=*" %%i in (c:\temp\longdir1.txt) do @for /d %%m in ("\\%%~pi") do @Call :Process "%%~si" || :process || @if "%~1"=="" (goto :EOF) else (@for /d %%i in ("%~1\*.*") do @echo %%~si & Call :Process "%%~si")

Set a Domain Controller to be a Global Catalog server
dsmod server "%DC_DN%" -isgc yes

Check which network connections (drive mappings) a computer has
wmic /node:"%computer%" path win32_logicaldisk where "DriveType=4" get DeviceID,ProviderName 

Query the current site of a remote computer using nltest
nltest /dsgetsite /server:%computer%

Query the current site of a remote computer using the registry
reg query \\%computer%\hklm\system\currentcontrolset\services\netlogon\parameters /v DynamicSiteName

Check the schema version on a Domain Controller (R2=31)
reg query \\%dc%\hklm\system\currentcontrolset\services\NTDS\parameters /v "Schema Version"

Query the revision of 2003 Update (R2=9)
dsquery * CN=Windows2003Update,CN=ForestUpdates,CN=Configuration,%forestRoot% -attr revision

Check the schema version on a Domain Controller (R2=31)
dsquery * "CN=Schema,CN=Configuration,%forestRoot%" -attr objectVersion -scope base   

Find the disk signature of a disk through diskpart
echo select disk 0 > %temp%\diskpart.txt & echo detail disk >> %temp%\diskpart.txt & diskpart /s %temp%\diskpart.txt | find /i "Disk ID:"

Search a dnscmd export for duplicate IP address references
for /f "tokens=1,5" %i in (DNSExport.txt) do @if "%j" NEQ "" @for /f "tokens=1" %m in ('"findstr /i "%j$" DNSExport.txt find /i /c "%j""') do @if %m GTR 1 @echo %i,%j,%m

Search and report duplicate IPs from a dnscmd export
for /f "tokens=1,4" %i in (DNSExport.txt) do @if "%j" NEQ "" @for /f "tokens=1" %m in ('"findstr /i "%j$" DNSExport.txt find /i /c "%j""') do @if %m GTR 1 (@echo %j,%m: & findstr /i "%j$" DNSExport.txt & echo.)

Dump the dfsr config from the active directory
dfsrdiag dumpadcfg

Remove Outlook 2003 prevention of PST usage
reg add HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Outlook /v DisablePST /t reg_dword /d 0x0 

Set the command prompt to include the time of the last command
prompt $t $p$g

Create a zero byte file
echo file 2>zero.txt

Given a list of files, echo those that are zero bytes in size
for %i in (%source%\*) do @if %~zi == 0 @echo %i

From a dnscmd export, find duplicate IP addresses
echo. > DuplicateIPs.txt & (for /f "tokens=1,4" %i in (DNSRecords.txt) do @if "%j" NEQ "" @find /i "%j" DuplicateIPs.txt >nul & if errorlevel 1 for /f "tokens=1" %m in ('"findstr /i "%j$" DNSRecords.txt | find /i /c "%j""') do @if %m GTR 1 (@echo %j,%m: & findstr /i "%j$" DNSRecords.txt & echo.) >> DuplicateIPs.txt) & type DuplicateIPs.txt

Start xperf performance tracing using the 'Diag' group
xperf -start -on Diag -f %temp%\tracing.etl 

Open an xperf trace, exporting context switching for threads and processes
xperf -i %temp%\tracing.etl -a cswitch -thread -process

Check whether VMware VMFS partitions are block aligned to 128
/sbin/fdisk -lu

Query a Virtual Centre/VC 2.5 database for Consolidation performance stats
sqlcmd -S server -d virtualcenter -W -s "," -Q "Select Top 6 ip_address as 'IP', cpu_mhz_avg/1000 as 'CPU', mem_mb_avg/1000 as 'RAM' , disk_percent_avg/1000 as 'Disk' from vpx_csl_system_perf vPERF inner join vpx_csl_system_ip_address vIP on vPERF.System_ID = vIP.system_ID order by sample_time desc"

Identify Virtual Machines that are currently powered on
/usr/sbin/vcbVmName -h %server% -u username -s powerstate:on

Find OCS 2007 classes/attributes in AD
dsquery * "CN=Schema,CN=Configuration,DC=forestRoot" -filter "(&((cn=*rtc*)(|(objectCategory=classSchema)(objectCategory=attributeSchema))))"

Find OCS 2007 server from DNS service records
nslookup -type=srv _SipInternalTLS._tcp.{FQDN}

Find OCS 2007 Pools published in the current directory
dsquery * -filter "(objectClass=msRTCSIP-Pools)"

Find OCS 2007 SCPs from the local domain
dsquery * "CN=Pools,CN=RTC Service,CN=Microsoft,CN=System,DC=domainRoot" -attr *

Export config from OCS 2007 from a remote server
lcscmd /config /action:export /level:machine /configfile:config.xml /fqdn:%server%

IIS Authentication and Access Control Diagnostics
authdiag.exe

Find the number of VMs per datastore from the VC database
sqlcmd -S server -d virtualcenter -W -s "," -Q "select DS.name, Count(VMDS.VM_ID) as 'VMs' from vpxv_vm_datastore VMDS inner join vpx_datastore DS on VMDS.DS_ID = DS.ID group by DS.name" 

Find detail on the VMs per datastore from the VC database
sqlcmd -S server -d virtualcenter -W -s "," -Q "select DS.name, VMS.Name from vpxv_vm_datastore VMDS inner join vpx_datastore DS on VMDS.DS_ID = DS.ID inner join vpxv_vms VMS on VMDS.VM_ID = VMS.VMID order by DS.Name"

Unattended install of IIS (assuming INF created with relevant [components])
Sysocmgr.exe /i:%windir%\inf\sysoc.inf /u:%iisComponents%.inf

Find the Exchange 2003 organization from AD
dsquery * forestroot -filter "(&(objectCategory=msExchOrganizationContainer))"

Mount a virtual floppy
vfd install & vfd start & vfd open

Send an SMTP mail using blat
blat -f smtprelay@relay.local -to user@domain.com -subject Test -body "Test body" -server smtprelay

Create MAPI profiles with an Exchange connection on a server without Outlook
profman2.exe

Find mailboxes that are excluded from Recipient Update Policies
dsquery * -filter "(&(objectClass=User)(objectCategory=Person)(msExchPoliciesExcluded=*))" -attr cn msExchPoliciesExcluded | find /i "{26491CFC-9E50-4857-861B-0CB8DF22B5D7}"

Export a connector space from MIIS/IIFP to XML
csexport %maName% maExport.xml

IIFP permissions, write proxyAddresses to user objects, inherited to subobjects
dsacls "OU=%targetOU%,%domainRoot%" /I:S /G %DOMAIN%\%GROUP%:WP;proxyAddresses;user

IIFP permissions, create and delete contact objects, inherited to subobjects
dsacls "OU=%targetOU%,%domainRoot%" /I:S /G %DOMAIN%\%GROUP%:CCDC;contact

IIFP permissions, read/write all properties, inherited to subobjects
dsacls "OU=%targetOU%,%domainRoot%" /I:S /G %DOMAIN%\%GROUP%:RPWP;;contact

Find extended rights in the directory that apply to schema classes
dsquery * "CN=Extended-Rights,CN=Configuration,dc=forestRoot" -attr displayName CN

Trigger the SD propagator adminsdholder process in a domain
admod -rootdse "FixUpInheritance::1"

Set interrupt processor affinity for PnP drivers
intfiltr.exe

Set interrupt processor affinity for processes persistent across reboots
imagecfg.exe -a 0xF calc.exe (the mask to use the first four logical processors)

Start an executable with the specified processor affinity
start /affinity f calc.exe (the mask to use the first four logical processors)

Modify a server to use only one processor
boot.ini, add /onecpu switch

Query DC/DNS servers and find unconditional non-ds forwarders
for /f %i in ('dsquery server -domain %userdnsdomain% -o rdn') do @for /f "tokens=1,3" %m in ('"dnscmd %i /info > DNS_%i.txt & tail -5 DNS_%i.txt | find /i "addr[" | find /i "addr""') do @echo %~ni,%m,%n

Create an Active Directory integrated DNS conditional forwarder (5.2.3790.0)
dnscmd /ZoneAdd %targetDomain% /DsForwarder %targetDomainNSIP%

Find DNS forwarder zones
dnscmd %server% /enumzones /forwarder

Find DNS forwarder targets
for /f %i in ('"dnscmd %server% /enumzones /forwarder | find /i "forwarder""') do dnscmd %server% /zoneinfo %i | find /i "master"

Find AdminSDHolder groups with GROUP_TYPE_SECURITY_ENABLED
dsquery * domainroot -filter "(&(objectCategory=Group)(objectClass=Group)(groupType:1.2.840.113556.1.4.803:=2147483648))"

Query an MIIS/IIFP database to find the management agent AD configuration
select ma_name, private_configuration_xml from mms_management_agent

Check the MIIS/IIFP GALSync.xml file to find the management agent AD config
Extensions\GALSync.xml

Query an MIIS/IIFP database to find the management agent AD containers to sync
select filter_xml from mms_partition MMSP inner join mms_management_agent MMSA on MMSP.ma_id = MMSA.ma_id where ma_name = 'MA-NAME' and partition_name = 'DC=domainRoot'

Set the IP address of a machine using netsh
netsh interface ip set address name="Local Area Connection" source=static addr=192.168.0.10 mask=255.255.255.0 gateway=192.168.0.1 1

Set local DNS client primary using netsh
netsh interface ip add dns name="Local Area Connection" addr=192.168.0.10 index=1

Set local DNS client secondary using netsh
netsh interface ip add dns name="Local Area Connection" addr=192.168.0.11 index=2

Set local WINS client primary using netsh
netsh interface ip add wins name="Local Area Connection" addr="192.168.0.10" index=1

Set local WINS client secondary using netsh
netsh interface ip add wins name="Local Area Connection" addr="192.168.0.11" index=2

Modify service DACLs to allow service start stop (assumes query already exists)
subinacl /service schedule /grant=builtin\users=TO

User cmdkey to add a stored credential when connecting to a remote server
cmdkey /add:remote.domain.com /user:domain\user /pass:*

Find the holders of the specified NT right / privilege
showpriv SeProfileSingleProcessPrivilege

Query the privileges the current user holds
whoami /priv

Delete the policy restriction to run adsiedit.msc
reg delete "HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\MMC\{1C5DACFA-16BA-11D2-81D0-0000F87A7AA3}"

Stop and then restart the ESX software iSCSI initiator
/usr/sbin/esxcfg-swiscsi -d | /usr/sbin/esxcfg-swiscsi -e

Reset a computer account secure channel
nltest /sc_reset:%domain%[\%dc%]

Reset the password for a computer account
nltest /sc_change_pwd:%domain%

CSV directory export of one or more subcontainers of a container
for /f %i in ('"dsquery ou OU=People,DC=domainRoot -scope onelevel -o rdn"') do csvde -f UserExport-%~i.csv -l givenName,sn,displayname,mail,targetAddress,proxyAddresses,mailnickname -d "OU=%~i,OU=People,DC=domainRoot" -r "(&(objectClass=Contact)(objectCategory=Person))"

Query VMFS volume information from the service console
/usr/sbin/vmkfstools -P /vmfs/volumes/%GUID%

Change the volume label of a disk
label %drive%: %newlabel%

Find VMware CDP info from the service console
esxcfg-info | grep -C 18 '\==+CDP Summary'

Add a non expiring enabled user account to the Active Directory
dsadd user "CN=user,OU=Users,DC=test,DC=com" -pwd "password" -pwdneverExpires yes -disabled no -desc "Description"

Clear local DNS client settings using netsh
netsh interface ip delete dns name="Local Area Connection" addr=ALL

From an ESX service console, scan for updates from a depot for UpdateManager
/usr/sbin/esxupdate --HA --flushcache -d http://esx01/vci/hostupdates/hostupdate/esx/esx-3.5.0 scan

Check the VI35 Legato AAM HA agent
cat /var/log/vmware/aam/aam_config_util_addnode.log

VMware VI35 HA Legato AAM, list the cluster manager
/opt/vmware/aam/bin/ftcli -domain vmware -timeout 60 -cmd "listrules"

VMware VI35 HA Legato AAM, list the cluster nodes
/opt/vmware/aam/bin/ftcli -domain vmware -connect esx01 -port 8042 -timeout 60 -cmd "listnodes"

VMware ESX VI35 List the software iSCSI targets
/usr/sbin/vmkiscsi-tool -L -l vmhba32

Mount a local volume inside a local folder
mountvol c:\temp\mount1 \\?\Volume{f856ff87-70ae-11dc-8b8d-806d6172696f}\

Remove a mount point
mountvol C:\temp\mount1\ /d

List junctions or mount points
junction -s c:\temp

Find the boot device for an ESX installation
esxcfg-info -s | grep -A10 "Diagnostic Partition"

Find the boot device for an ESX installation
esxcfg-info -s | egrep -A4 "Parallel SCSI Interface|Block SCSI Interface"

Use vSphere RCLI to list an ESXi host filesystem
vifs.pl --server %server% --username %username% --password %password% -D /host

Use vSphere RCLI to backup an ESXi host (esxcfg-cfgbackup.pl)
vicfg-cfgbackup.pl --server %server% --username %username% --password %password% -s server.tgz

ESX VI35 list the virtual machines and their disks for performance analysis
/usr/lib/vmware/bin/vscsiStats -l

ESX VI35 gather disk statistics and display the latency histogram in CSV
/usr/lib/vmware/bin/vscsiStats -s; /usr/lib/vmware/bin/vscsiStats -x; /usr/lib/vmware/bin/vscsiStats -p latency -c;

Get Windows Remote Management config on the local machine
winrm get winrm/config

Windows Remote Management quick configuration to create a listener
winrm quickconfig

Test Windows Remote Management listener on the local host
winrm id

Create a Windows Remote Management https listener on the local host
winrm quickconfig -transport:https

Create a self-signed certificate
makecert" -r -pe -n -r 30/12/2039 -eku 1.3.6.1.5.5.7.3.1 -ss my-sr localMachine -sky Exchange -sp "Microsoft RSA SChannel Cryptographic Provider" -sy 12 c:\temp\test.cer

Query the SNTP servers a comptuer is using for time synchronisation
net time \\server /querysntp   

Set the SNTP servers used for w32time synchronistaion
net time \\server /setsntp:"192.168.0.10 192.168.0.11"

Convert time from 100 nanosecond intervals since epoch 01/01/1601
w32tm /ntte 127076450620627215

Install the w32time Windows Time service
w32tm /register

Enable NTP Server for a w32time service
reg add \\server\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\TimeProviders\NtpServer /v Enabled /t reg_dword /d 0x1 /f

Find the error description given a win32 error number
net helpmsg 2

Delete the policy value controlling whether recently run programs are recorded
reg delete HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer /v NoRecentDocsHistory

Set registry permissions (subinacl 5.2.3790.1180 or later)
subinacl /keyreg "\\server\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion" /grant=domain\group=F

Set service DACLs (Q : Query SC, S: status, I: interrogate, T: Start, O: Stop)
subinacl /service \\server\schedule /grant=domain\group=TOQSI

Rename a LAN interface name (ncpa.cpl)
netsh interface set int name="Local Area Connection 2" newname="Local Area Connection"

Find all network devices
devcon findall =net

Find all network adapters for the Net class
devcon listclass net

Remove an old VMware VI3 PCNET Flexible/VLance/VMXNET adapter instance (@)
devcon remove "@PCI\VEN_1022&DEV_2000&SUBSYS_20001022&REV_10\3&61AAA01&0&88"

Find where a file is in the path
for %i in (calc.exe) do echo %~$PATH:i

Find the physical disk sector size
wmic path win32_diskdrive get BytesPerSector

Find the current amount of memory used by the file system virtual cache
wmic path Win32_PerfFormattedData_PerfOS_Memory get SystemCacheResidentBytes

Use robocopy in backup mode to take a copy of folder-level permissions
Robocopy \\server\source c:\temp\copy zxcvsadfqwer /E /B /COPYALL /R:1 /W:1

Find remote shares and paths using WMI
wmic /node:%server% path win32_share get Name,Path,Description

Find total memory, free memory and used paging file
wmic /node:%server% path Win32_OperatingSystem Get FreePhysicalMemory,FreeSpaceInPagingFiles,TotalVirtualMemorySize,TotalVisibleMemorySize

Search a remote computer's registry for a string
regfind -m \\%server% -y -b -n search_string

Set a computer to use a specified number of available processors
modify boot.ini, use the /NUMPROC=x switch or /ONECPU switch

Check the Exchange ESE buffer cache size
dsquery * "CN=InformationStore,CN=exchserver01,CN=Servers,CN=AdminGroup01,CN=Administrative Groups,CN=organisation,CN=Microsoft Exchange,CN=Services,CN=Configuration,DC=domainRoot" -attr msExchESEParamCacheSizeMax -scope base

Query the start of authority record for a DNS zone
dnscmd %server% /enumrecords %fqdn% @ /type SOA

Wayne's World of IT (WWoIT), Copyright 2009 Wayne Martin. 

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VMware PowerCLI - Reconfigure cluster options

The following script contains a simple example of how to modify the configuration of a cluster – in this case to add two advanced options to the HA settings. This uses the new ClusterConfigSpecEx object, which can be used with the more generic function to reconfigure a resource – ReconfigureComputeResource().

The options set in this example are the das.allowNetworkX options, configuring HA to set specific management networks/service consoles that are used for HA communication and heartbeats.

Consider the following scenario for a reason why you might want to use these options:

1. Software iSCSI with ESX 3.x – using the service console for authentication, meaning you need a service console on your iSCSI network (or routes between your corporate network and iSCSI). The standard result is that HA could be used across this interface.
2. You are progressing with an upgrade to ESXi 4.0, still using software iSCSI, which is improved to remove the need for a management interface on your iSCSI network
3. You put an ESX 3.5 and ESXi 4.0 host in the same cluster, HA no longer works because your iSCSI service console on ESX 3.5 can’t talk to your ESXi 4.0 host.
4. Adding the two options above (with names changed appropriately) would force HA to use the service console on ESX 3.5 and the equivalent management network on ESXi 4.0, ignoring the iSCSI service console on 3.5 - resolving HA issues.

# http://www.vmware.com/support/developer/vc-sdk/visdk400pubs/ReferenceGuide/vim.ComputeResource.html#reconfigureEx
# http://www.vmware.com/support/developer/vc-sdk/visdk400pubs/ReferenceGuide/vim.cluster.DasConfigInfo.html#field_detail

param (
    $vcServerName = ""
)

$viServer = Connect-VIServer -server $vcServerName

$optionValue = New-Object Vmware.Vim.OptionValue
$optionValue.Key = "das.allowNetwork0"
$optionValue.Value = "Service Console"

$optionValue2 = New-Object Vmware.Vim.OptionValue
$optionValue2.Key = "das.allowNetwork1"
$optionValue2.Value = "Management Network"

[Vmware.Vim.OptionValue[]]$optionValues = $optionvalue, $optionValue2  # Create the array of the two new option values

$cluster = get-cluster -Name 'Cluster01'     # Get the cluster
$clusterview = get-view $cluster.Id      # Get the SDK object from the PowerCli object MO

$spec = New-Object Vmware.Vim.ClusterConfigSpecEx
$spec.dasConfig = New-Object Vmware.Vim.ClusterDasConfigInfo   # New VMware HA config

$spec.dasConfig.option = $optionValues      # Add the array of optionValues
$clusterview.ReconfigureComputeResource($spec, $true)    # Modify the configuration. When configuring clusters, can be a ClusterConfigSpecEx object


# Check the settings were saved

$cluster = get-cluster -Name 'Cluster01'     # Get the cluster
$clusterview = get-view $cluster.Id      # Get the SDK object from the PowerCli object MO

$clusterview.Configuration.dasConfig.Option | format-list   # Retrieve the advanced options

Wayne's World of IT (WWoIT), Copyright 2009 Wayne Martin. 

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VMware PowerCLI - Backup ESXi 4.0 firmware

The following script contains a simple function to use the VMware vSphere PowerCLI to connect to a vCenter and/or ESXi 4.0 host and backup the 'firmware' - the configuration of the ESX host. I don’t think this functionality is exposed directly through the PowerCLI, so a call to the very useful Get-View function is used to get the VI SDK object to call the appropriate method.

From what I can tell all this command does is generate a config dump on the server and return the HTTP URL to access the file download, which I’m then using the .Net web client object to download the file and store as the filename returned with a unique date suffix.

This certainly isn’t original, all I did was look at the vicfg-backup.pl perl RCLI script and (badly) translate to PowerCLI from there.

#
# Description:
#  Backup the firmware configuration on an ESXi 4.0 host
#
# Limitations:
#  -
#
# Assumptions, this script works on the assumption that:
#  The caller provides credentials with permissions to connect to the specified host
#
# Arguments:
#  esxServer, the ESX host to connect to, eg. esx01
#  vcServerName, The vCenter Server to connect to, eg vc01
#  outputDir, The directory to write the backup file to, defaults to %temp%
#  username, The username to use when connecting to the vCenter server (if specified), defaults to %username%
#  password, The password to use for the connection to vCenter, secure string prompt by default
#
# Usage:
#  PowerShell . .\BackupFirmware.ps1 -esxServer 'esx01'
#  PowerShell . .\BackupFirmware.ps1 -esxServer 'esx01' -vcServer vc01 -u domain\username
#
# References:
#  http://www.vmware.com/support/developer/vc-sdk/visdk400pubs/ReferenceGuide/vim.host.FirmwareSystem.html
#
# Changes:
#  04/07/2009, Wayne Martin, initial version

#$ErrorActionPreference = "Continue"


param (
    $esxServer = "",
    $vcServerName = "",

    $outputDir = $env:Temp,

    $username = $env:username,
    $password = ""
)

if ($password -eq "" -and !($pass)) {
    write-output "No password specified from the command-line"
    $pass = Read-Host "Password?" -assecurestring
    $credential = new-object System.Management.Automation.PSCredential($username,$pass)    
}

if ($esxServer -eq "" -OR ($vcServerName -eq "" -and $esxServer -eq "")) {
    Write-Output "Please specify either a standalone host, or a host and a cluster"
    Exit 2
}

$viServer = $null


function BackupConfiguration([string] $vcServerName, [string] $esxServer, [string] $outputDir){
    $hostSystem = get-view -ViewType HostSystem -Filter @{"Name" = $esxServer}    # Find the .Net view of the specified host

    $hostConfigManager = $hostSystem.get_ConfigManager()      # Get the config manager
    $hostfirmwareSystem = $hostConfigManager.get_firmwareSystem()     # Find the MOR of the host firmware system

    $hostfirmware = Get-View $hostfirmwareSystem        # Get the VMware.Vim.HostFirmwareSystem object from the MOR

    $backupDownload = $hostfirmware.BackupFirmwareConfiguration()     # Call the backup method to generate the config bundle

    $backupDownload = $backupDownload.Replace("*", $esxServer)      # Replace '*' with the server name

    Write-Output "Backup saved to $backupDownload on the ESX host"
    $fileName = $backupDownload.SubString($backupDownload.LastIndexOf("/")+1)    # Extract the filename to reuse
    $fileType = $fileName.SubString($fileName.LastIndexOf("."))      # Find the extension (.tgz in this case)

    $Now = [DateTime]::Now.ToString("yyyyMMddTHHmmss")          # Unique identifier for the filename
    $file = $fileName.SubString(0, $fileName.Length - $fileType.Length)     # File name without extension
    $outputFile = $outputDir + "\" + $file + "_" + $Now + $fileType     # Construct the full filename path\bundle_date.tgz

    $wc = new-object system.net.WebClient        # use the .Net web client
    $wc.DownloadFile($backupDownload, $outputFile)       # Download the file from the URL returned

    if (test-path -path $outputFile) {         # Does the output file exist?
        Write-Output "$outputFile downloaded"
    } else {
        Write-Output "Error: $outputFile was not downloaded from $backupDownload"
    }

}

if ($vcServerName -ne "") {
    $viServer = Connect-VIServer -server $vcServerName -Credential $credential
} elseif ($esxServer -ne "") {
    $esxServer = Connect-VIServer -server $esxServer       # connect to VC
}


$results = ""
$results = BackupConfiguration $vcServerName $esxServer $outputDir

$results

if ($vcServerName -ne "") {
    Disconnect-VIServer -confirm:$false
}

Wayne's World of IT (WWoIT), Copyright 2009 Wayne Martin. 

Read more!

VMware vSphere PowerCLI commands

The commands below are PowerCLI commands used to automate VMware ESX and VirtualCenter at the command prompt. Most of these commands were built on 3.5 with vSphere PowerCLI, and the majority have been tested against ESXi 4.0 and vCenter 4.0 infrastructure.

Each command-line can be copied and pasted at a PowerCLI command prompt, and most commands assume you already have a connection to the target, be it vCenter or ESX.

Note that most of these commands use OBN - Object By Name - instead of using the get* command to get the object. This is supported with all but a few of the commands I've come across.

List the vSphere PowerCLI commands
Get-VICommand

Connect to a ESX or VirtualCenter instance
connect-viserver -server %server%

List the currently available datastores
Get-Datastore | sort

List the currently available datastores filtered and sorted
Get-Datastore | where {$_.Name -like '*pr*'} | sort

Find the VMs attached to one or more datastores
foreach ($prodDatastore in $prodDatastores) { write-output $prodDatastore.Name; get-vm -datastore $proddatastore; write-output ''}

Get a Virtual Machine
$vm = get-vm -name '%vm%'

Get the virtual harddisk for the specified VMs
Get-HardDisk -vm $vm

Move a virtual machine to another container
Move-VM -Destination $prodApps -VM $vm

Update the VM description for a list of CSV entries
foreach ($virtualServer in $virtualservers) {$arr = $virtualServer.split(","); $desc = $arr[1]; $vmName = $arr[0]; write-output $vmName; $desc; $vm = get-vm -name $vmName; Set-VM -VM $vm -description $desc}

Query for a list of VMs and output in ANSI format
get-vm | sort-object | format-table -property Name | out-file -encoding ASCII -filepath c:\temp\vms_20090625.txt

Find VMware machine performance statistics
 get-stat -entity $vm -disk -start 01/01/2009 -finish ([DateTime]::Now.ToString("dd/MM/yyyy"))

For a group of VMs, report performance statistics and save to file
foreach ($vm in $devVMs) {get-stat -entity $vm -disk -start 01/01/2009 -finish ([DateTime]::Now.ToString("dd/MM/yyyy")) | out-file -filepath ("c:\temp\" + $vm.Name + "DiskPerformance.txt")}

Find VM datastore disk usage
$devVMs = get-vm -name '*dv*'; foreach ($vm in $devvms) {$vm.harddisks}

Find VM datastore disk usage
$testVMs = Get-VM -Location (get-folder -name "Test") ;foreach ($vm in $testVMs) {$vm.harddisks | format-table -hideTableHeaders -wrap -autosize | findstr /i /c:per}

Find SCSI devices attached to an ESX server
get-scsilun -vmhost (Get-VMHost -Location "cluster")[0]

Rescan HBAs on an ESX server
get-VMHostStorage -VMHost (Get-VMHost -Location "cluster")[0] -RescanAllHba

Storage vMotion a virtual machine to a new datastore
Move-VM -vm "vmName" -datastore "NewDatastore"

Storage vMotion a group of machines from a CSV input file
$servers = get-content -path inputfile.txt; foreach ($server in $servers) {move-vm -vm $server.split(",")[0] -datastore $server.split(",")[1]}

Remove a snapshot and child snapshots, reporting how long the operation took
measure-command -expression {remove-snapshot -snapshot $snapshots[0] -removechildren}

Find datastore space, usage and number of VMs per datastore
$datastores = get-datastore | sort-object; write-output "Name,Size,Used,Free,% Used,#VMs"; foreach ($datastore in $datastores) { write-output ($datastore.Name + "," + [math]::round($datastore.CapacityMB/1024) + "," + [math]::round(($datastore.CapacityMB/1024)-($datastore.FreeSpaceMB/1024)) + "," + [math]::round($datastore.FreeSpaceMB/1024) + "," + [math]::round(((($datastore.CapacityMB/1024) - ($datastore.FreeSpaceMB/1024)) / ($datastore.CapacityMB/1024)) * 100) + "," + (get-vm -datastore $datastore).count)}

From a set of VMs, find which have snapshots
foreach ($testvm in $testvms) {if (get-snapshot -vm $testvm){write-output $testvm.Name}}

Find the size of the first hard disk in each VM
foreach ($vm in $vms) {$vm.harddisks[0] | format-table -hideTableHeaders -wrap -autosize | findstr /i /c:per }

Find disk information for VMs in the specified datastore
 $VMs = Get-VM ;foreach ($vm in $VMs) {$vm.harddisks | where {$_.FileName -like '*clusterpr*'} | format-table -hideTableHeaders -wrap -autosize | findstr /i /c:per}

Find VMs in the specified datastore
$VMs = Get-VM | where {$_.harddisks[0].FileName -like '*clusterpr*'}

Get VM guest information, including virtual OS
get-vm | get-vmguest | format-table -wrap -autosize

Find virtual machines and their description/notes
$vms = get-vm ; $vms | format-table -wrap -autosize -property Name,Description

Create an associative array containing VM names and descriptions
$vmdesc = @{}; foreach ($vm in $vms) {$vmdesc.add($vm.Name, $vm.Description)}

Migrate a virtual machine to another host in a VMware ESX cluster
move-vm -vm %vmName% -destination %hostname%

Find the host a VM is currently located on
get-vmhost -vm %vnName%

Add a new harddisk to a virtual machine
New-HardDisk -vm %vmName% -CapacityKB 20971520

Retrieve details on the resource pools from the currently connected datacenter
Get-ResourcePool | format-table -wrap -autosize -property Name,Id,CpuExpandableReservation,CpuLimitMHz,CpuReservationMHz,CpuSharesLevel,CustomFields,MemExpandableReservation,MemLimitMB,MemReservationMB,MemSharesLevel,Name,NumCpuShares,NumMemShares

Find virtual machines and if they have a CD-ROM
get-vm | format-table -wrap -autosize -property Name,CDDrives

Find the last 100 events that aren't alarm related
$events = Get-VIEvent -MaxSamples 100 | where {$_.fullFormattedMessage -notmatch "Alarm*"}

Find all events for machine deployments from templates
$events = Get-VIEvent | where {$_.fullFormattedMessage -match "Deploying (.*) on host (.*) in (.*) from template (.*)"}

Create a resource pool with high CPU and memory shares
New-ResourcePool -location (get-cluster -name 'cluster') -Name ResPool1 -CpuSharesLevel [VMware.VimAutomation.Types.SharesLevel]::High -MemSharesLevel [VMware.VimAutomation.Types.SharesLevel]::High

Create a folder from the root of the tree
New-Folder -Name Workstations -location (get-folder -name 'vm')

Move one or more VMs to a resource pool (or other destination)
$vms = get-vm -name vmNames*; move-vm -vm $vms -destination (Get-ResourcePool -name 'ResPool1')

Get an OS customization specification, and list the properties in wide format
Get-OSCustomizationSpec -name "SpecName" | format-list

Take a snapshot of a virtual machine
New-Snapshot -Name "Snapshot 01" -description "Snapshot description" -vm vmName -Quiesce:$true

Convert a virtual machine to a template
$vmView = get-vm -name vm01 | Get-View; $vmView.MarkAsTemplate()

Find Datastore usage (custom written function)
get-datastoreusage

Get an ESX log bundle using PowerCLI
Get-Log -VMHost esxhostname -Bundle -DestinationPath c:\temp

Query for snapshots
Get-VM | Get-Snapshot | export-csv -path c:\temp\VMsnapshots.csv

Query for snapshot information
Get-VM | Get-Snapshot | foreach-object {$out=  $_.VM.Name + "," + $_.Name + "," + $_.Description + "," + $_.PowerState; $out}

Wayne's World of IT (WWoIT), Copyright 2009 Wayne Martin. 

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Resetting Computer Account Passwords

I was trying to tell from a workstation point of view when the computer account password was last set. I'm sure this information is stored locally somewhere, but in the end it was easier to query the AD and find when the password for the computer account was last set.

This is used for Virtual Machine templates - we use nltest to reset the computer account password, such that we can maintain a single template image and turn it on periodically for updates without having to rejoin to the domain because of mismatched computer accounts.

Forcefully reset the computer account password:

nltest /SC_CHANGE_PWD:%domain%

Query the workstation in the domain and find when the password was last set - returns the number of 100 nanosecond intervals since 01/01/1601.

dsquery computer -name ws01
dsquery * "CN=ws01,OU=Computers,DC=domain,DC=com" -attr pwdlastset
pwdlastset
128934012123005000

Use PowerShell to convert the number to a human readable date format:

powershell [datetime]::FromFileTime(128934012123005000)

Thursday, 30 July 2009 2:20:12 PM

Use w32tm to convert the number to a human readable date format:

w32tm /ntte 128934012123005000

149229 04:20:12.3005000 - 30/07/2009 2:20:12 PM

Use VBScript to convert the number to a human readable date format:

cscript ConvertFileTime.vbs 128934012123005000

30/07/2009 2:20:12 PM


' ConvertFileTime.vbs
' VBScript doesn't support 64-bit integers, so it can't handle the number of 100 nanosecond intervals since 01/01/1601
' http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnclinic/html/scripting09102002.asp

' Either use ADSI provider and the IADs/IADsLargeInteger object
' LargeIntValue = objLargeInt.HighPart * 2^32 + objLargeInt.LowPart

' http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/adsi/adsi/iadslargeinteger.asp'
' Or WMI, which handles the conversion between 64-bit datetime structure / UTC / and VB var datetime

If Wscript.Arguments.UnNamed.Count > 0 Then 
        strDateTime = Wscript.Arguments.UnNamed(0)
        Set objDateTime = CreateObject("WbemScripting.SWbemDateTime")
        If IsDate(strDateTime) Then
                Call objDateTime.SetVarDate(strDateTime, False)
                wscript.echo objDateTime.GetFileTime
        Else
                Call objDateTime.SetFileTime(strDateTime, False)
                wscript.echo objDateTime.GetVarDate
        End If
        intReturn = 0
Else
        WScript.Echo "Specify a filetime or a date to convert, eg 127076450620627215, or ""11/04/2006 11:17:10 AM"""
        intReturn = 2
End If
WScript.Quit(intReturn)

Wayne's World of IT (WWoIT), Copyright 2009 Wayne Martin. 

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